Years ago when my wife and I first lived in Athens we had a medical student friend named Fithias (like the sculptor). One day when travelling with him on a bus we noticed he was making the gestures usual when passing a church. My wife said to him "I thought you were an atheist, Fithias". He answered "Of course - but I'm an Orthodox atheist".

posted by gibbon at 10:51 am (EST) on May 18, 2008

I don't know yet what my main area of study is going to be, I'm hoping to figure that out when I start taking classes. Though I'm interested in learning about all cultures religions, biblical history/archaeology, goddess cults, oh the list goes on forever.

posted by SageWoodWitch at 6:41 pm (EST) on Apr 28, 2008

Hi there! I too am going to be studying religion in the fall!

posted by SageWoodWitch at 1:40 am (EST) on Apr 20, 2008

Thank you for the invitation.

posted by micahross at 5:59 am (EST) on Dec 13, 2007

Thanks for the Coptic group invite. I didn't realize there were so many dead language nerds around here. =)

posted by abydos at 10:21 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2007

Thanks for the invite to the Coptic Group...joined and will be lurking about there more in the future. cheers.

posted by Asterkometes at 8:49 pm (EST) on Jul 28, 2007

"Dying Trades

One often hears that there is only one person left who knows how to make something or other. And, nearly always, it sounds as if it was well worth someone else's while to learn the trade. There is, apparently, only one man living who can make the Scottish clan stockings, correctly. Needless to say, he is besieged with orders.
A few years ago there were only two old women left who could make the Hardwick matting so much used in Derbyshire, at one time, as a floor covering. Thatching has always seemed to be one of the trades at which a good living could be earned. But I am told no young apprentices will learn it. On the other hand, the craft of basket-making is on the upward grade."

Sacheverell Sitwell, Truffle Hunt, London, Robert Hale Ltd., 1953. page 125

posted by gibbon at 1:11 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2007

Hi Kushana, thanks for the invite. I'm probably not enough of a Coptic scholar to contribute much, but we shall see.

posted by raygungothic at 6:46 am (EST) on Jul 25, 2007

How's the re-reading of Moby Dick coming? You've inspired me to re-read it too. Of course, it's down in the pile a bit, so I probably won't get to it for a while...

posted by drneutron at 12:07 pm (EST) on Jul 16, 2007

Dear Ms. Kushana --

Thank you for your kind reply. I have been looking in on the Coptic group and shall continue to do so for pleasure and intellectual profit. Best regards,

Barry Wiegand

posted by bwiegand at 11:16 am (EST) on Jul 14, 2007

Hello Kushana,

I absolutely love Islandia, but it's hard for me to put into words exactly what that means or even how it effects me. I feel some sort of connection to it, and make sure to reread the book every so often. I always seem to discover something new to take away, no matter how many times I read it. In fact, I think it's just about time to read it again! It's almost like returning home for me, in some sense.

I also recommend it to people and have also had the experience that only those that actually finish it really liked it. I did a "book exchange" with a good friend of mine; he gave me a short list of books to read (since Islandia is so long) and I told him to read Islandia. I read all his book suggestions, and enjoyed most of them, but he didn't even get a quarter of the way through Islandia and refuses to read any more. I'm still working on him though, I'd really like him to finish it someday because it is such and important book to me! So far, everyone else I've recommended it to has enjoyed it.

Anyway...it's great to find another Islandia fan on LibraryThing!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 9:52 am (EST) on Jul 12, 2007

Hi Kushana, I've put some work into my Library (here at LT) to try and make it interesting: like comments, tags, Table of Contents, long drawn out reviews... To this day I am surprised that my long Kojeve review hasn't been pulled by Amazon; - it is essentially about a footnote! In my mind I divide the History of the West into three components: Philosophy, Religion, and Politics. (I am aware that their are others -art, science, e.g.- but they do not really interest me.) In my library you can see my attempting to understand all three. In order to better understand Christianity I need to understand Paul (the Apostle) better; do you recommend the Crosson (In Search of Paul) book? Is the Pagels book (The Gnostic Paul) worthwhile or is she forcing the argument? Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Joe

posted by pomonomo2003 at 10:13 pm (EST) on Jul 11, 2007

Thanks for inviting me to be your librarything friend, I'm always glad to participate in the social aspects of books.

posted by yhaduong at 6:11 pm (EST) on Jul 11, 2007

Dear Ms. Kushana --

Thank you very much for your invitation to join the new Coptic LibraryThing group. I looked at the site, and I consider the picture of the fragment to be brilliant. Sadly, I must say that the other members of the group appear to be much more advanced in the field than I possibly could hope ever to be. The books that we share, which I suspect motivated your gracious invitation, result more from my amateur interest in non-Canonical scripture rather than from any scholarly training. But, I can say that it considerably antedates The DaVinci Code. Best of luck finding more worthy Coptic members, but I shall enjoy checking periodically on your group's progress and commentary.

Best regards,

Barry Wiegand (Bwiegand)
Washington, D.C.

posted by bwiegand at 11:04 pm (EST) on Jul 9, 2007

My helper assures me the blog has been fixed.

-Kushana

posted by Kushana at 4:43 pm (EST) on Jul 2, 2007

I've had Gil Hamilton sittng around for some time, and finally decided to read it when it came due for cataloging. I enjoy Niven and Pournelle's writings. I see you and I share some Hebrew, Aramaic, and NT Greek titles. I had my classic/koine greek in college, but Heb. and Aramaic were gained at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia). But I grew up in Southern California, so would like to hear the name of your school.

BTW: Articles on your blog are not displaying. I use WinXP with Internet Explorer and default color themes/schemes. It seems that you have a white font on white background on your blogs.

posted by cad_lib at 7:01 am (EST) on Jul 2, 2007

Cool! Moby Dick is one of my absolute favorites. When I get the urge to go to sea, that's what gets pulled off my shelf. Hope you enjoy it!

posted by drneutron at 12:23 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2007

Great review for Islandia. It's one of my favorite books, and I'm glad to see that others appreciate it as well!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 9:50 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2007